Kubler/Polmans edge past Special K's in late-night epic as Kokkinakis fitness worries compound

(Getty/William West)

On the stroke of midnight, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios have been edged out by fellow Aussies Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans 6-4 4-6 7-6(4), with the Special K's struggling to the finish line after being up a break in the third set before both players suffered from flare-ups of their longstanding injuries leaving their futures unknown.

For a long time, it felt like the match that everyone had stuck around for would not deliver. After dropping the first set, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis seemed a little flat, and the crowd lacked their usual energy as the match petered towards a straight sets conclusion. Then, the Special K’s summoned up their trademark energy to break late in the second set to level the match with some signature Kokkinakis forehands and the crowd came to life, with Kyrgios revving them up as expected.

With queues stretching around KIA Arena all day, the crowd was raucous and wild, at times creating a challenging atmosphere for Polmans and Kubler, who handled the challenge well.

While the K's took the break early in the third set, Kokkinakis' serve speeds dramatically dropped in a recurrence of his shoulder injury, and Kyrgios also struggled, with his serve being broken before Polmans and Kubler took an early lead under some controversy in the match tie-break, with Kokkinakis losing a point for hitting a volley on the wrong side of the net. From there, it was one-way traffic as Kubler and Polmans served out the match, with Kyrgios launching a ball out of the stadium following its conclusion before expressing his disappointment at the application of the rules in press.

"How can you review a ball that's been hit over the net, but you can't review a serve over the net? Doesn't make any f**king sense," he vented. "Like, that's why I'm pissed off. Like, we're playing for millions of dollars. We've been both injured, both trying to get to this stage. Some of these rules are just so, so, so dumb. They don't make sense."

"So how can you not review a let? How can you not review that? How can you not just watch a ball just go over the net? How dumb does that sound?"

Kubler and Polmans were complimentary of their opponents and of the crowd, saying that they loved the atmosphere.

"It was very fun on Kia Arena. I thought the atmosphere was probably the loudest I've ever experienced. So thank you to everyone coming out. It was very special," said Polmans.

"To see Thanasi and Nick back playing, I think it's very special. So awesome to see those guys back."

The First Serve Live returns on Monday February 2nd at 8pm AEDT for its 18th year on the SEN Network/App, Australia's only dedicated weekly tennis program on commercial radio running through till the end of November.

Kokkinakis revealed that he would not play for a long time in order to resolve his injury issues and said that he had texted Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt to tell him he would not be fit for the tie in Ecuador.

"I think I'm going to be on ice for a while. I don't want to play another match feeling like that ever again, so I will take a serious break. Yeah, I told Lleyton he's got to take someone straight after. I don't know if he is asleep. Probably is, but I said you got to take a healthy body, someone that's a lot more ready than me," he shared.

"I'm in no way, shape or form ready to compete at this level. So, yeah, I've got to do some things. I had some injections booked for after the tournament anyway. Yeah, I thought I'd be able to get through a doubles. Yeah, it's pretty disappointing."

Kokkinakis also had a lot of praise for the crowd, saying that they helped to push them through the match.

"That's why we play. It's exciting. Unfortunately they saw probably a couple shadows of our former selves. That's what's tough. When you know you're not quite there," he said.

"Again, the crowd's incredible. It's why we play here. They're phenomenal. We almost got them up and about. They were getting up and about, but we couldn't get over the line. We were trying to do as much as we could. I gave it whatever I had. I know Nick did as well. It's annoying because they come out and support. They're phenomenal. They're the best fans in the world. We love playing in front of them."

While saying that he still believed that he had a lot of tennis left in him, Kokkinakis was circumspect about the chances of complete recovery of his shoulder.

"My right shoulder has had a lot of wear and tear. It's hard. Because in the back of your mind sometimes you're accepting, yeah, I don't know how much I have left," Kokkinakis admitted. "But then other parts, I still play some good tennis. I think if I can get this right, I've got a lot left. I don't know.

"One thing is I'm going to try to do everything I can. If it's completely done, then I'll work that out. I'm going to try everything I can."

Kyrgios was also coy on his schedule, leaving future plans unclear.

"I'm tired. Yeah, I mean, I've done a lot of travel. I mean, I haven't really played any official tournaments," said Kyrgios. My goal in the last couple months was to play all these events and to get through the Aus Open playing some doubles with Thanasi. There's no one else I'd really want to play with, to be honest. I have mixed tomorrow. Then reevaluate what my schedule looks like."

"That's it. I've ticked all my boxes, all my goals the last month and a half. I've done everything I thought I could do. I don't know. I don't know what I'm going to do."

Kubler and Polmans will take on United Cup sensation Jakub Paul and Marcus Willis, who captured the tennis world at Wimbledon ten years ago and will be looking to do the same in Australia in 2026.

The First Serve Live returns weekly each Monday Night on the SEN Radio Network & SEN App.

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